Stay on target

Studio Ghibli’s My Neighbor Totoro is getting turned into a theme park – in Japan. Unfortunately, when the park opens in Aichi Prefecture’s EXPO Park in 2020, fans in the states will have to crack their passports open if they want to get in on the goodness.

Studio Ghibli is the world famous anime studio that produced Isao Takahata and Hayao Miyazaki’s amazing classics. The Wind Rises, Spirited Away, and Princess Mononoke all have come from its hallowed halls, but the Studio Ghibli Museum in Tokyo was the best place fans could really immerse themselves in all things Ghibli until now.

The park’s projected opening date of 2020 just happens to coincide with another huge Studio Ghibli happening, the release of formerly retired anime legend Miyazaki’s next film, Goro the Caterpillar. Weirdly enough, Miyazaki’s own children’s nature park will be opening in 2018 on Kume Island. Whether or not that will be included in Studio Ghibli’s plans, or be at odds with it is up in the air.

Actual plans for the Studio Ghibli theme park and details on attractions are currently unavailable. Only the preliminary plans were announced by Aichi prefecture governor Hideaki Oomura and Ghibli producer Toshio Suzuki, though with the opening date a scant three years away, we’re likely to hear more concrete details soon.